the main ten (playin' in the band) makes its first appearance of '69 in the Dark Star on 4-11, four days earlier. the very 1st one is in the 6/19/68 show i believe. this DS is significantly better however, perhaps one of the finest of the year!

great, great show btw, do not pass this up b/c of aud sound!!

The sound is actually really good and very listenable, and an awesome show! but the chick chatting away during the amazing dark star is just annoying the piss out of me, I wish I could go back in time to tell her to shut the hell up!

yeah, the sound here isn't perfect, but it's not a major issue to my ears, especially after fiddling with the equalizer (down on the low end, up on the high), and as far as i'm concerned every segue from china cat to anything but rider is a priceless treasure.
you'll love the music on this; if you're worried about the sound, stream a couple of tracks. i think you'll end up downloading it.

Worthy audience recording full of sublime ecstasies and subtle joys. Check out the "Playin'" tease near the end of "Dark Star" -- perhaps the earliest extant riff of a later classic.

I'm not a big fan of AUDs. The sound wasn't terrible, but it did distract me from the music. It's one thing when you're AT the show and you're part of the audience, but when I'm alone and chilling and taking in a show, I don't want to hear much audience stuff. Anyhow, there's a hot CE>TOO>CE here that can't be missed! The show itself is fantastic, but the audience sometimes gets in the way. Show = 5 stars, sound = 3

pig is off the chain as usual get it while you can

i'm so grateful to whoever was so faced yet able to get a good recording of this show. i prefer stephen into eleven over everything except powder days (even sexy time). why did they stop the high green chilly after 69? this is a better show than dicks 16. whoever said a sndbrd release is needed for the greater good of mankind is absolutely right. the version available now is nice, but imagine a sndbrd of this show, gourds would explode. one of the better dead shows ive heard, up there w/cornell 77, no bs.

OMG 1969... I forget, after a while of fishing up in the years (like the 1980's), how insanely intense the ancient stuff is... so excited this early stuff keeps coming up, after I thought I'd heard it all... I haven't even heard as far as the Star yet, but The Other One twists and runs sooooo hard, that you'd swear it's gonna cut ya! And they drop the Cryptical Reprise from so high and quiet that you know the detonation'll just slay - OW! Very exciting stuff indeed. Sounds great for a crappy, chatty Aud too. Hand-held? Amazing!

The energy in this performance is truly astounding. An amazing China Cat, Lovelight, Sitting On Top Of The World even. The explosion into to The Other One is one for the books, and I haven't made it to Dark Star yet. I'm not going to quibble about the quality. For an audience from this era to be this listenable at all, I'm thankful. If a SBD of this exists in the vault, it needs to be released for the good of mankind. Until then we must all be satisfied that some intrepid taper took his hands out of his pockets and turned on his tape deck. Thanks. 5 stars for this incredible show.

The classic lineup doing what they did best: the half-hour take of "Turn On Your Lovelight" and monster "Dark Star" version belong in every Deadhead's collection as reminders of what this group was about, particularly now that the unthinkable has happened and their sounboard tapes are locked up in a digital rights management vault. I don't rate this show on the technical merits of the recording, which is excellent, given the circumstances. Jerry's guitar is out front, spported by a solid "wall of sound" as only The Dead could create one. The technical "imperfections" in fact add to the ambience, and we should thank the recordist for preserving this labor of love for our benefit 35+ years later. Download it before these AUD tapes start disappearing, too.

JERRYS VOCIALS ARE GREAT, BOBS WHO CARES, PIG IS ON TOO. THE MANS AXE SOUNDS GREAT. THIS IS BRING HOME WHAT WE CAN'T ANYMORE. ITS RAW AND REAL.

Beside my favorite year and song list the recording gets a 4 for the effort,"hand held mic"is the topper for me. Sure there this chick talking throughout Dark Star but thats what it is all about. It is the audience persepctive, holding the microphone throughout the show, faithful and determine to capture the experience and satisfied with the results(3/3/68 lone taper, 5/68 Jorma holding the mic, 6/24/70 security guard mounting the "only" known recording). Thanks tapers! The Dark Star is great, bummer on the cut 11,Pig is on with Hurts Me Too, Phil is a Monster , Once again it is great to see Charlie at it again, bring em on!